United Party (New Zealand) - Success

Success

In the 1928 elections, the new United Party performed surprisingly well, winning twenty-seven seats. The Reform Party also had twenty-seven seats, the Labour Party had nineteen, the Country Party had one, and independents held six. The United Party formed a government with the backing of the Labour Party, and Ward became Prime Minister again.

The United Party administration did not run particularly smoothly, however. Ward's ill health persisted, and by the time he finally resigned in 1930, George Forbes had effectively run the party for some time. Forbes became Prime Minister after Ward's departure, but faced serious economic problems, including the onset of the Great Depression. Forbes did not project an image of activity or leadership — William Downie Stewart, Jr., finance spokesman for Reform, privately described Forbes as "apathetic and fatalistic", and suggested that although he had "a rotten job", Forbes was really simply marking time.

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